After the Prime
by Novtrizonic Horizon
Summary: HIATUS: I just don't really like this fic anymore. It was fun but I like Light of the Prime better, and I don't think I should continue this after the release of TFP season 3. Sorry. For those who haven't guessed yet, this is my own continuation of Transformers Prime, directly following Season 2. -Nov. Horizon
1. Prologue: Ratchet's Message

"Optimus, can you hear me?! Optimus! Optimus!" Ratchet called frantically. Having just passed through the GroundBridge, Ratchet was concerned for the Autobot leader. With Deceptions swarming the area of the base, Optimus had stayed behind at the base while he had Ratchet and the others- Jack, Raf, Miko, Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Smokescreen- departed. "Optimus..." Ratchet murmured as static was heard through the comm link. So Optimus had left his comm link on, but was unable to respond... Wait. Ratchet listened closer. Was that...Fire crackling? A moan? "Optimus, are you there?!" Ratchet cried with renewed hope.

"Reunite...Survivors...Find...Jack." came the weak reply. "Jack...is...importannnnnn..." And Optimus's voice talked off.

"Oh Optimus..." Ratchet moaned. On his knees in three dirt somewhere outside Jasper, Ratchet submitted to hopelessness as he accepted his leader's fate. Optimus Prime was dead, his spark extinguished by Deception hands. Ratchet stayed there for some time until suddenly, he heard an engine. "Scrap!" Ratchet muttered, and he knew it was too late to hide.

"Ratchet...?" A deep voice called.

Ratchet gasped in recognition. "Bulkhead!" He exclaimed. He stood quickly to see Miko running toward him, Bulkhead not far behind. "How did you..."

"I dunno. It was like an invisible GroundBridge just popped up and about us here." Bulk shrugged. "Whoever did it, it kinda works for us, huh?" He chuckled a little, but Ratchet could tell that while he meant well, his spark was not in it. "So...Any news?" Bulk blinked hopefully, but Ratchet sighed and turned away.

"Optimus...is dead." He said, his voice catching as he said it.

"No..." Bulk said, and at the same time, Miko gasped, "What? B-but...He's the last Prime! He can't...die..." she sobbed. Bulkhead put a hand on her shoulder, but took his hand back and whirled around as he heard the distinctive sound of a GroundBridge. Ratchet heard it too, and both of them got ready to fight Decepticons, but they were lucky to see a familiar motorcycle.

"Bulkhead! Ratchet! Miko!" Arcee exclaimed as she transformed out of vehicle mode. "Jack...Something, I don't know what, hit him from behind or...Or something! Because one moment he was there and then...Then eh was gone!" she said frantically, clearly distraught over Jack. She probably felt like she had failed Optimus in protecting Jack, Ratchet figured.

"Arcee, I don't like adding to your pain or saying this any more than I have to, but you nee to know- Optimus...He is dead." Ratchet sighed. "But the good thing is if this keeps up we can expect Smokescreen and Bumblebee, hopefully with Rafael, soon."

Arcee was too shocked to hear him. "Optimus...Ratchet, we have to go back!" she cried.

"No, Arcee, we cannot. We might still be in Nevada but the base is in flames and by now Decepticons have surely set up a watch. At any rate we don't have anything that could repower Optimus's spark anyway. It would be suicide to go back there, and to what point? None at all. Optimus would not want us to go back and risk our lives to try and do something we cannot." Ratchet said gravely, shaking his head. Bulkhead saw the sense in his words but stomped the ground anyway, agitated.

"Don't get me wrong, Ratchet, I understand." Bulk amended as Ratchet looked at him suspiciously. "It's just..." the big Autobot sighed. "I just wish we could DO something."

"Don't we all?" Miko said dejectedly as she sat down. Suddenly the sound of another GroundBridge brought the whole group back to attention. Out came Smokescreen and Bumblebee, together for some reason.

"Bee!" Arcee shouted. "Smoke! Have you seen Jack?"

Bumblebee made some twittering sounds and transformed as soon as Raf was out. "What do you mean? Jack's missing?" Raf asked, confused.

"And Optimus...Is gone. He wanted us together though, so we MUST find Jack." Ratchet announced firmly.

"You mean to say as soon as I meet him, my hero, he DIES and now JACK is gone too?" Smokescreen asked incredulously, popping out of vehicle mode.

"That is exactly what I mean to say say." Ratchet said gravely.


	2. Chapter 1: Jack's Dream

Jack was having a weird dream.

It was no nightmare, but no sweet dream either... It was school.

School just droned on for Jackson Darby. He could only think about the Autobots and Deceptions. Something nagged at him. Was it that everyone had either blue or red eyes? Was it that all the questions on his quizzes were things like, "If a branch has a million leaves, and a dog has two eyes, how many lions will fit on the beanbag?" Was it that whenever anyone asked him a question and he replied with the name of an Autobot, they just nodded complacently and moved on? What was it? Everything was just as daze. Suddenly he hit a hard question on his math quiz. "If Megatron blew up the base, and someone was left behind, what is the likelyhood that that someone survived?"

And suddenly it hit Jack like a sucker punch. A queasy sensation overcame him and the dream changed to blackness...But there he was. Optimus Prime. Standing in the darkness like a beacon of light. Jack tried to move to him but couldn't feel himself. "Jack. You have proven yourself above all others. My spark is extinguished, and with it, it appears the line of the Primes is done. But if there is one thing you and I both know, it is that some of us in this strange universe are destined for incredible things. Greatness can be found in anyone- Cybertronian or human, Orion Pax or Jackson Darby. Return now, to life." Optimus said, and the dream was over. But there was something else, too. Jack could have sworn he heard Optimus say something else as he faded away.

"Prime..."


	3. Chapter 2: New World

"Ratchet, are you sure?" Smokescreen asked, and Jack could only wonder what the young Autobot was talking about. Jack couldn't move, blink, or talk, but his mind was racing and he could tell he was laying down. "I don't think he's a Prime." Smokescreen added uncertainly, and Jack could tell he was right over him. Was Smokescreen talking about... him?

"Of course I'm sure. I know one when I see one, it's just a matter of figuring out who he was and who made him a Prime." Ratchet replied gruffly, then thought it over. "Basically, where did he come from?" the medic mused.

Jack finally managed to open his...eyes... huh. Why didn't that word seem to fit? Then he realized everything looked like it was coming through a screen. Was this how Cybertronians saw the world? Why was HE seeing things like this?

"He's awake!" someone else, someone very familiar said.

"B...Bulkhead?" Jack muttered. Why did he look so... normal sized? Ok, well, not normal for Bulk, but like...as if he were human sized.

"You know me?" Bulk asked incredulously, looking at Jack suspiciously. Apparently he didn't recognize Jack...Weird! Jack thought.

"You don't...But...Bulkhead, it's me. It's Jack." he pleaded.

Arcee, who had been sitting dejectedly nearby, perked up instantly and ran over. "Jack?!" She said.

"Hi...Arcee." Jack smiled weakly at her face as a wave of fatigue overcame him. Wow, did she look small! Odd.

"Jack...You...You're...You got turned into a Cybertronian!" Ratchet exclaimed. "Impossible...Unless...M.E.C.H.?" Ratchet sighed as he realized that was impossible. MECH was gone.

"What? You've GOT to be kidding me." Jack muttered, and tried to sit up. Everything felt weird.

"Ah ah. No." Ratchet said sternly. "We still don't know if this is a trap."

"Ratchet, you said it yourself! He's a Prime. We can trust him." Smokescreen exclaimed. He rolled his eyes and banged Jack on his shoulder. A metallic bang rang out, and Jack realized they were in an abandoned warehouse. "And on top of that, it's Jack we're talking about!"

"A Prime?" Jack asked, too confused as to why Smokescreen had said he was a Prime than to worry about them thinking he was a traitor. "What are you...Optimus!" Jack gasped, remembering the dream now.

"Is no longer with us." Ratchet said roughly.

"I know, I know. But I had a dream. He talked to me...but...huh. I..don't remember what he said. it was something about...he was dead, but I was something special or something like that." Jack murmured, confused. He put a hand on his head. Oh, geez. That was strange- seeing his own arm like a Cybertronian's.

"Well, welcome back to Team Prime. With YOU as the Prime." Smokescreen laughed.

"No no no...Guys, I'm not a Prime!" Jack exclaimed. "I shouldn't even...I'm not supposed to be a Cybertronian." he sighed, looking at his hands as if he expected them to turn back into human hands at any moment. "And how could you see a Prime, Ratchet? Optimus didn't have anything marking him as a Prime, right? Just everyone knew right away who he was without asking."

"I cannot explain it Jack, because I don't know how. I just...knew." Ratchet sighed.

"It doesn't make sense, though..." Jack muttered, upset. He shook his head.

"But it does..." Ratchet murmured, excited. "Optimus's life signal just came online." he said, looking at a nearby screen. The image of Optimus suddenly became that of Jack- as Cybertronian of course. "It's registering YOU in Optimus's place." Ratchet exclaimed, then eyes the screen more closely. "It says you are... Stormflash Prime."


	4. Chapter 3: Meeting Again

"I...Can I just go by Jack?" Jack asked, though he had been officially named Stormflash Prime. It was overwhelming and he wasn't sure he wanted to be known as a Prime, or even just Stormflash. It was very overwhelming.

"Oh hey, the new guy's awake!" a familiar voice shouted,a nd Jack turned to see Miko- and it was even more disorienting seeing her so tiny than the Autobots so normal. Bumblebee appeared to have taken Miko and Raf for a drive, for Jack saw Bumblebee transform after Raf got out.

"Hi there!" Raf greeted, but Miko was a little bit more enthusiastic.

"Hi! What's your name? Where you from? What's your story? What do you turn into? How old are you?" she earned questions upon him as soon as she saw him sitting on the floor of the warehouse. Jack stared at her, bending down to be eye level with her. "Ooooooh... Why do you have white eyes? Whose side you on? Are you as good a fighter as Bulkhead?"

"Miko, Raf, Bumblebee, this is ahhh...Stormflash. Stormflash Prime." Ratchet said, a little uneasily.

"Whoa, you're a Prime?" Miko punched the air enthusiastically. "Now we got a real fighting chance against the Cons! Woo hoo!" She whooped.

"Yeah ha! Sweet!" Raf grinned and gave Bumblebee a high five. Bumblebee made some noises and Raf replied, "You said it!"

"Wait,I understood him!" Jack said, looking at Ratchet. The medic nodded and Jack shrugged.

"However, you three, there is one thing you need to know about Stormflash..." Ratchet began.

"I'm not supposed to be Stormflash Prime." Jack finished.

"What's that supposed to mean, you're like, a Deception? Cause then Bulkhead would have to beat you into a big pile of scrap!" Miko giggled.

"Maybe he means he's not sure he's supposed to be the new Prime." Raf suggested. He didn't want this new Cybertronian to think Miko was serious.

"No!" Jack exclaimed. "I mean yes. Kind of. Agh!" Jack muttered in frustration.

"That's Jack." Arcee broke into the conversation.


	5. Chapter 4: Yeah, Right!

"Alright, now I know you're up to something, Ratchet, Arcee...Stormflash." Miko spat, a sting in her voice as she said the young Prime's name. Flinching at his friend's harsh words, St- Jack sighed. He blinked and bent over.

"Miko, please. It's really me, and I think Optimus chose me for some reason." Jack tried to explain.

"You can trust him. It really is Jack." Arcee said, and Jack looked at her gratefully, relief clear in his optics as he gave her a small smile. "We just have to hope he won't lose his sense of humor like Optimus did when he became a Prime." she added good-naturedly.

Jack laughed at this, and he thought, it feels good to laugh! He continued to laugh, and soon even Ratchet was chuckling.

"Ohhhhhh, no, Ratchet! Heeeeeeeelp! It's contagious!" Smokescreen called, and moaned as he stopped around with his arms out in front of him like a zombie.

"I've...also...been infected!" Ratchet gasped between fits of hearty laughter.

"There is no escape..." Bulkhead sobbed, catching the theme. He stomped after Arcee, who faked a shriek and ran off. Jack was the only one besides Miko who wasn't playing along. He was too busy laughing, laying on his back in the middle of the empty warehouse. Even Raf participated, clinging to Bumblebee's shoulder as he parodied a laughter-struck scraplet.

"EVERYONE STOP IT!" Miko suddenly screamed, and crossed her arms. She glared at them all with an extremely venomous look in her young eyes. "I don't know why you all thought that so funny, or why you think this guy-" she pointed to Jack, who was sitting up by now, "-is one of my best friends turned robot. So until someone cares to straighten this out, I will be going." she said, and with that, stormed out the warehouse doors.

Bulkhead was the first to notice something was amiss with Miko. "Mhmmmm..." he muttered. Jack tried to get up and follow her, but Bulk put a hand on his shoulder and Jack looked back at him, white optics searching the wrecker's sad face curiously for a moment before Bulkhead replied,"Give her time."

Jack sighed and nodded after a moment, feeling like he'd done something wrong again Miko. Bulkhead turned and trumped off to another seven of the warehouse as Jack stood, pushing off his knees to stand. He looked over at Smokescreen, who tilted his head. "Sooooo uhmmmm...Need an alt mode?" Smokescreen suggested.


	6. Chapter 5: Alt Modes and Mothers

"So, where are we?" Jack asked Smokescreen as they walked out of the warehouse to find Jack an alt mode.

"New York, or something like that. We're just outside the city." Smokescreen replied, rolling his shoulders as if a kink had gotten in them.

"Oh. Still hiding, huh?" Jack blinked as he thought about it. And the more he did, the more he wondered- why her, of all places, in one of them most densely packed cities in the world? And how did they get here?

Smokescreen seemed to know what was on his mind. "Not really. Deceptions have already moved in on the western part of the country, so pretty much all the humans know what's up. And the good thing is, we've been on the news!" Smokescreen laughed then, not a real laugh but more of a disheartened scoff.

Jack flinched when Smokescreen laughed like that. It wasn't like the proud, cocky Autobot. "I don't see how that's good in any way." Jack said, maybe a little harsher than he meant.

"The cons tried to frame us for their doings but Fowler helped us out, which means all the New Yorkers know us, but also that the cons know where we are." Smokescreen exclaimed calmly. He tried to walk on but Jack reached out and stopped him. Hope shone clear as day in his optics.

"Fowler. He's alive?" Jack asked, excited now as all traces of hostility faded from his voice.

Smokescreen snorted- Jack didn't know that was possible- and replied, "Duh."

"Then that means...my mom!" Jack cried happily.

"Oh yeah." Smokescreen said, smiling. Of course. "About that. She should be back any time. She went shopping to get the kids some food."


	7. Chapter 6: Reunion

**June 3rd person**

June Darby couldn't quite bring herself to hum with the song...but it was her favorite. It was an old song by an old man, an unknown artist in the world of meaningful songs and not just the repetitive love songs with horrible backbeats they called pop, June thought with a vehemence she didn't know she had within her. She sighed as she realized why she was virtually incapable of humming to a song she loved- because she was missing someone she loved.

Jack. Oh Jack. What had happened to him? June thought, unable to force her mind away from the heart-wrenching subject. She choked back a stub and pushed a strand of black hair out of her face as she tried to focus on the road. It was hard through, with her vision blurring. Finally she sobbed and decided the traffic was too heavy for her to be in at this time, all emotional. She pulled in to a gas station parking lot and allowed herself to cry, if only to remain strong for Raf and Miko's sakes...

Her cell phone rang and she picked it up to decide if it was worth answering. Ratchet. Reluctantly she flipped open the phone and answered it. "Yes, R-Ratchet?" she managed to say.

"Nurse Darby, I'm sorry if this is inconvenient at the time but we need you to come back to base." Someone said- it wasn't Ratchet. June did know who it was, though. Smokescreen.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine." June replied hurriedly. "I'll be over soon. Ten minutes." She added, and before Smokescreen could argue she hung up. She was only five minutes from base but she felt that she needed to allow herself to calm down for a minute and settled down in the driver's seat of the car as her crying died down.

And ten minutes later, just as she had said she would be, June pulled up to the old warehouse and parked her car. Walking through the huge doors that would have allowed Optimus Prime to walk through even if he had been ten feet taller, June looked in to see the base as it normally was. Except...Why was Ratchet grinning at her so happily? "We have someone here who wants to see you!" He said in explanation.

"Uh-huh..." June muttered. Suddenly Smokescreen came around a corner and June could have sworn she saw another pair of optics behind him. "Would someone bother to tell me what the frag is going on?" June spat. However she quickly recovered from her anger and sighed unhappily. "Sorry." She managed, seeing Ratchet and Smokescreen's surprised faces.

"I-It' s okay," Smokescreen said, recovering swiftly. "Maybe this'll cheer ya up, huh?" Smokescreen said jubilantly and stopped aside. Another Cybertronian figure come into view. June didn't know how she's missed him standing there. Easily as tall as Optimus Prime, he was black all over recent for a little but of white, which June assumed would be white racing stripes when in alt mode. And while he was of equal height to Optimus, he was slimmer and more lithe. There was something familiar about him...but June couldn't place it. She stared up at the tall Autobot.

"Oohhhhh-kay?" June said.

"Meet Stormflash Prime, the newest Autobot, last Prime, Optimus Prime's successor. Also known as Jackson Darby." Smokescreen announced dramatically.


	8. Chapter 7: Talks

June staggered backwards and put her hands up to cover to mouth. Soon a river of years spilled over her hands. "But...how..." She stammered between choked breaths.

Jack knelt down to be eye level- optic level?- with her. "Hi, Mom." he said softly. June recognized his voice easily, but there was a mechanical overtone that she wasn't sure she liked.

"Jack...?" June asked tentatively, not sure if she believed it. "Where were you? It...it's been over a thought you were dead..."

"Not me. I never stopped believing in him." Arcee broke in. She was just coming back from patrolling the area.

"It's it really you, Jack?" June said softly.

"Why would I lie to you?"Jack replied, equally quiet.

June looked him over, and suddenly something came over her. She looked at him. "I...I need time." She said slowly, and Jack' s face fell, as it was clear her words upset him. "Sorry." She murmured, and Jack nodded, still a little crestfallen.

"Could you maybe talk to Miko? Something was upsetting her." Jack said, hoping maybe if his mom wanted time, then maybe she would help Miko work it out. At that moment Bulkhead drive in and transformed. "Miko won't talk to me." he said sullenly. June looked from Bulk back to Jack, and she face her a tiny, sad smile and stood up.

"I'll go see if I can talk to her, Bulkhead." June said, addressing the huge wrecker.

"But- I mean...if she won't talk to me..."Bulkhead began, but June cut him off quickly.

"Then maybe she'll want to talk to another human," June said calmly, and it sounded very logical to Bulkhead.

"Oh. Well, she's just outside." He replied, and moved off to check their energon supplies while June went through a smaller side for of the warehouse in the direction Bulkhead had indicated.

"Hey, Miko." June said kindly as she saw the teenager during among fall's golden and orange leaves.

"Hi..." She sighed.

"You alright? You seem upset." June said, sitting down next to her.

"Yeah, I guess so." was all Miko said.

"So what is it?" June asked, then added, "Don't can trust me."

"Ok, well, the world is falling apart, Deceptions have taken over the west, and now that Stormflash says he's Jack-and I thought he was gone." Miko sighed. "That enough?"

"Miko sometimes the bad times turn out to be the best world might be in turmoil but now you have Jack black from the dead, basically." June smiled at her.

"You don't understand. He's not the same Jack..." Miko sniffed. She sounded broken, which shocked June.

"He might look different, and he might be a Cybertronian now, but Jack will always be my son, and I know that. Just try to understand for his sake. He cares about you do much, Miko...he's worried. I think you just need to give him some time to adjust, and act normal around him. That will help. If you want Jack back you have to accept him, but if you keep pushing him away nothing will get better." June explained softly, trying to calm Miko down as she hugged her right.

"Ok...Ok. I will. I'll try." Miko whispered, her eyes watering.


	9. Chapter 8: Invasion!

"Ahhhhhhh!" Bulkhead shrieked as he ran back from the energon stocks. Hands in the air, he had a look of absolute terror on his face. "SCRAPLETS!" He screamed.

"What?!" Ratchet gasped. If there were scraplets in the base, they were all...well, scrap.

"Are you sure?" Arcee asked, concerned. Bulkhead nodded vigorously, frantically studying his weight from foot to foot.

Everyone looked to Jack.

"Huh?" Jack asked, startled and confused. "What're you looking at me like that for?" he said, hands up as if in surrender as he backed up a few paces.

"You're Stormflash Prime. You're supposed to lead us." Arcee explained, rolling her optics as she crossed her arms. "But personally I think we all know what to do: evacuate and get Miko and Raf to help us." Arcee said, sounding a bit strained as she tried to make a point. She glared at Bulkhead and Ratchet venomously

"Uhh yeah, yeah. Uh-huh!" Bulkhead nodded.

"I was going to agree anyway." Ratchet grumbled. Bulkhead turned to look at him and instead stepped on something. "I NEEDED THAT!" Ratchet shouted.

"Yeah?" Bulk challenged. "You sure do need a lot, huh? Is attention on that list? Cuz if it is you're not any less needy than a SPARKLING!" Bulkhead yelled.

"You're clumsier than a delusional youngling!" Ratchet retorted, angry.

"Guys, stop!" Arcee said firmly, trying to get between the two arguing mechs.

"This doesn't concern you, Arcee!" Ratchet short back.

"ALL OF YOU, STOP IT!" Jack shouted as loud as he could, his voice ringing though the warehouse. "There could be scraplets out there and you guys are just standing there arguing! Is this what Optimus would have done?" Jack glared, anger filling his white optics. "Huh?" he challenged. In response, all three of the older bots hung their heads. "Good," Jack began in a reasonable but deadly tone, but Miko and June walked in them.

"Let's go kick some scraplet butt!" Miko shouted enthusiastically, punching her fist into her hand.


	10. Chapter 9: To Believe or not to Believe

Raf led the way down to the energon stocks, with Miko and June behind him. it had surprised everyone when Jack's mother opted to go help destroy the scraplets, to which she responded, "You've always been a team of three. From what I've heard the little creeps come in hoards, but they only eat metal, so you'll need all the human assets you can." And so Miko, Raf, and June were on the hunt for an infestation.

Raf welded a rake, Miko a shovel, and June looked extremely dangerous with her weed whacker. They all carried two plastic buckets in their free hands, to capture as many scraplets as they could so they could kill them later. Suddenly Miko, who had been bent over in a crouch as she walked in a battle stance, straightened up. "They're all...dead." She said, curious. A mind of dead scraplets was heaped on the ground in front of them, their hungry, metal-devouring moths filed with sharp, rotating incisors still open in death, but their huge, bright lavender eyes were shut- or maybe they were simply just dim. The lighting in this part of the warehouse was poor, and Miko could only see the glam of those sharp little teeth.

"He lied!" Miko gasped.

"No he didn't, Miko. The scraplets are here, but he might not have realized they were dead. Maybe he thought they were in stasis." Raf suggested, and Miko snorted. She moved to grab a scraplet off the heap, but it's eyes began to glow as it woke. "Oh, SCRAP!" the group cried in unison.


	11. Chapter 10: The End Results

"GET EM!" Miko screamed suddenly as the horde of scraplets tried to find something to target. Usually just one would lock on top a target and the rest would follow, but the mess of metal parts and walks in the area made it hard for them to concentrate and so they killed about in confusion, making easy targets for Miko, Raf, and June. Raf spun in tight circles with his rake, sending little metal bugs flying. June hacked away with her weed whacker, and Miko going scraplets everywhere- up, down, left, right- with her shovel, and soon they had reduced the horde to nothing.

"Well, that was easy." June sighed happily, testing the weed whacker against a dead scraplet.

"Umm, guys...I have a bad feeling that that was only a scouting party..." Read squeaked, fear evident in his voice. "Look!" He shouted as scraplets began to pour out on seemingly nowhere, amassing in a huge group bigger than any colony of scraplets Miko or Raf had ever seen.

"We can't take them." Miko gasped. "We gotta get to the others." She said, and added, "Spilt, in case they're smart enough to follow!" With that she took off, and she could only assume June and Raf had done the same. She pounded through dark corridors for what seemed like forever, but had only been five minutes. Then she saw a door. So Miko being...Well, Miko, she headed toward it. It wasn't like she had any other option, any way. Poking her head out the thankfully human sized doorway, she stepped out and realized she'd somehow made a giant loop around the building, as she recognized she was out front. She could see June's car sitting out front but nobody in the area at all.

Grabbing her cell phone out of her pocket, she quickly typed in, "Got out ok. Where are you? I am out in front of base. -M." and sent it to both June and Raf, hoping for a quick reply and that they were safe from harm.

If she only knew...


	12. Chapter 11: Missing Someone?

"Why is it always scraplets?" Bulkhead moaned over his comm link.

"Bulk, shut up. I'm driving here." Jack shot back, seeing as the Autobots, vulnerable to the scraplets' hunger for metal, had to flee base in vehicle mode. Jack hadn't yet tried his own vehicle mode used, but he'd chosen a simple black Ford truck that seemed to fit him well. However, he wasn't used to moving as a car and had done trouble getting around. He mentally sighed as he thought about Miko, Raf, and his mother. He'd have to contract them later, but the first of the scraplets had seen them and they'd had to, will, roll out, as Optimus would have said. This time sorrow engulfed Jack as his mind's mere mention of the dead Prime consumed his thoughts, distracting him stop much that he nearly served into a tree. "Scrap." he muttered, and thought, I'll have to work on that.

"J-" Arcee began, and forced herself to stop in case anyone, cheif among them Soundwave, was listening in, "Err, Stormflash. Where are we going?" She asked.

"Umm...Times Square?" Jack suggested, having truly no clue where to go.

"Isn't that a little bit...exposed? You know, the humans?" Ratchet said in a concerned manner, a little on edge.

"Smokescreen said- WAIT A SECOND." Jack nearly screamed into the comm link as he realized that the proud, high strung and excitable Cybertronian was nowhere to be seen. "WHERE THE FRAG IS HE?"


	13. Chapter 12: Ambush

**1st try at a Cybertronian POV: and it's Smokescreen!** _Hope I captured his personality alright._

Oh frag. The Cons trailing me were getting closer. Megatron had finally bothered to put out a force to stop us, huh? Well that was just fine. Separated from the others, as my comm link was broken somehow and all I could hear was static, all I could do was drive as the Vehicons advanced on me. I would have tried to fight, but there were just too many- and there wasn't an Energon leak to ignite like the first time I battled with the Decepticons on Earth. As I hurtled toward the human city at one hundred miles an hour, I realized something was very wrong. The Cons were backing off! What the frag... I thought, confused. But then I heard a grinding as a cloud of scraplets consumed the Cons, a bigger cloud than I'd ever seen. Where had they come from? Well, it didn't matter to me. All I wanted to do was escape, as one or two of the Vehicons had managed to make it out of the horde unharmed as their bretheren was consumed by the sraplets. Now I could fight them! But wait, something in the base of my head told me. The humans. Awww, scrap. If I started fighting them here, on an open road with a load of human cars and, undoubtedly, humans in them, I was endangering them. Aaaaaand...I wasn't supposed to be seen.

Wait a second.

Hadn't I told Jack the exact opposite when we were finding him a vehicle mode? That the humans all knew we were here?

Right.

Pulling a sharp turn to my right, I veered off the road and lead the Cons right into the subway systems, where I headed a good distance into a cancelled construction zone. No humans to endanger. No humans to see me. Three Vehicons. Easy enough. These drones weren't made for much more than getting beat into big piles of scrap, so I figured I could take them, no problem. Lurching to a halt, I transformed out of vehicle mode and at the same time changed my arms into wonderful cannons. Joy. Now I could really bust some Cons up.

"Miss me?" An accented voice suddenly snarled behind me, and a gleaming red 'con socked me in the back. "I'm still angry about you sticking me in the wall, SMOKESCREEN." Knock Out spat, glaring at me as I twisted around on the ground to see the Decepticon medic advancing and throwing a heavy kick to my chasis.

"Wow, what a nice paint job you have there!" I coughed as the three Vehicons behind me aimed their rifles at my head. "It's a shame I'll have to scratch it up again." I laughed, and this really put a dent in Knock Out's chasis, I could tell! Laughing some more, I addedbreathlessly as one of the Vehicons deliviered a ruthless kick to my backside, "Go frag yourself, ya pile of scrap."


	14. Chapter 13: Decepticons, Attack!

"How _nice_ of you to meet us here." a recognizable voice boomed from above Jack, Ratchet, Bulkhead, and Arcee. "I see our little ploy with the scraplets is a very effecting way of, ahhh, how do the humans put it..._Ratting you out."_ Megatron chuckled coldly, his voice harsh as it rang across the road. Flying low in his jet form, he had apparantly managed to make his voice bigger. "And who's this?!" he exclaimed in mock surprise, hovering over Jack. "A new recruit? As I recall your last new Autobot didn't go so well, and...Where is he now?" the Decepticon leader taunted. Suddenly he shouted, "DECEPTICONS, ATTACK!" And an all out battle ensued.

The Autobots, all of them excluding Jack, immediately transformed, causing the humans ont he road to swerve around them, scream, and occasionally even crash, btu that was their fault. As far as any one of the Autobots were concerned at the moment, they needed to protect them from the Decepticons, not their own fear. Arcee was the first to shoot down one of the Cons, and as it crashed it knocked another Con otu of the air, creating a rather large explosion. Jack wasn't sure of how to get out of his vehicle mode- it was one thing to get in it, he supposed, but another to get out. Frag, he thought, I don't even know how to activate my weapons system!

Thinking hard, he thought of how he'd managed to transform in the first place. He just...thought about being a car. So he tried to reverse it this time...And it worked! Unfortunately for him, it drew the Cons' attentions, as they hadn't been firing on him before. He'd made himself a target- a thirty foot tall, inexperienced, unarmed target.


	15. Chapter 14: Capture

"A word of advice, young Autobot. Tell your friends to stop firing, or...Well, see here?" Megatron chuckled as he watched Jack, horrified, as two Vehicons came from seemingly nowhere. Each of them carried a cylinder about ten feet tall, and in those cylinders...June Darby and Rafael, both of whom were pressing their hands against the glass in futile attempts to steady themselves- the Vehicons were evidently none to considerate and didn't care if they fell down or whatnot.

"Guys..." Jack murmured, staring in horror. "Guys. Stop..." he said, optics wide. He should have known they'd try something like that! Wait...No he shouldn't have. Why did he think that? He'd never encountered anything soooo...Decepticon-y. So why...? He shook his head violently to clear it of all thoughts like that and noticed one thing he hadn't before. "Where's Miko?" he said, ha- no, servos, clenched angerly.

"Ahhhh, the girl..." Megatron drawled, but Jack sensed he was simpyl bluffing, since he didn't actually HAVE Miko. That sent a flicker of hope spiraling through him. "She was...A lost cause, so to speak." He finished slowly, as if taunting Jack. He hardly noticed Megatron land and transform with a thud.

"What do you want, Megatron?" Jack nearly growled. He was angry and tense, yet didn't know how to activate his weapons systems, clearly, Megatron noticed.

"You." was all Megatron said before everything faded to blackness, his optics offlining as he heard a loud THWACK from behind- a Vehicon hitting him in the back of his head, he supposed, but how he had enough time to think that before he blacked out, he didn't know.


	16. Chapter 15: Partners

"Thank you for your cooperation." Megatron said, sounding quite pleased with himself. He grinned with pleasure as he saw Bulkhead- the stupid wrecker!- having to restrain the slim little femme they called Arcee. She kept sreaming at Megatron, and thanks to this, Mgeatron now knew the exceedingly tall yet young and inexpreienced mech's name: Stormflash. "We'll be going now..." Megatron drawled, enjoying this. As he said it the Decepticon's massive warship, the Nemisis, could be seen pulling into view overhead. "But for now...It looks like that was your latest partner, eh, Arcee?" Megatron chuckled.

Arcee suddenly stilled in Bulkhead's grip as she gasped. Did Megatron know...? However, the silver mech didn't indicate he did, and continued. "Fancy seeing your old partner again?" he queried. Overhead a small red jet parted the treetops with its passing. It streaked by in a flash of color and pivoted once behind the Autobots. Unfolding, there stood a once-dead comrade; A slightly bulky, small-ish red figure, horns, and dark grey faceplates.

Cliffjumper. But...

He had red eyes.


	17. Chapter 16: Escape

_I'm starting to feel really lame with uploading just a single, short, 200-600 word chapter every day, but I like where this story is headed and I want to keep going. I do, however, feel like I could do better. If my chpaters start to randomly get really fragging long...now you know why._

"I see you've replaced me, Arcee." Cliffjumper said. He didn't sound offended, but there was some sort of weird inflection in his voice, making him sound just a bit hollow, just a bit curious as to why Arcee had a new partner. Arcee was stunned for a moment after her old partner had first appeared btu she recovered quickly and refused to say anything, glaring at the red mech. "This is what the world has come to, huh." Cliff said. It wasn't a question- but maybe he meant it to be. In the moment that he said that, Arcee knew what was wrong. She hadn't been able to tell when he first spoke, but now, with the lilting, queer, and senseless tones he used, Arcee could clearly tell Cliff was not truly back. He was probably being controlled, like how the MECH leader Silas had controlled Nemisis Prime long-distance. However, he was nome human engineering feat. He was real, and he was alive, but maybe under a sort of hypnosis. "I am very disappointed." Cliff added.

In a flash Arcee tore herself from Bulkhead's grip, earning a surprised grunt from the Wrecker. He reached to grab her but the small femme was too quick. She raced towards Cliffjumper at high speed, leaping when the time was right and slamming into her former partner with a speed and ferocity that was not to disappoint the usual Arcee style. Cliffjumper staggered backwards heavily, disoriented, and in this moment of confusion Arcee jammed one of her quickly revealed blades underneath Cliffjumper's chin. "I...Hate...YOU!" Arcee screamed, her voice starting out as a hoarse, barely contained whisper that quickly escalated into a full-scale rage. Suddenly Cliffjumper's optics offlined, and Arcee gasped as the heavy mech collapsed onto her. She staggered back and shoved him away with her left servo, looking at what she held in her right one. It was Cliff's spark.

"Arcee..." Ratchet started, and the blue femme turned to look at him mournfully, despair peaking in her light blue, slightly two-tone optics. "Are you alright?" he finished. The medic was wanting deperately to comfort her, to reach out somehow, but was not sure how. He had seen warriors in this state before and knew what could happen to them. However, his deepest fears were expelled when Arcee exhaled deeply and tilted her head to the sky, optics closed. But when she looked, she realized the Nemisis, in all its horrible terror-invoking 'glory', was gone.

"We let them get away!" she muttered angerly, servos clenching involuntarily. A crunching sound emitted from her right hand as she accidentally crushed what was left of Cliffjumper's spark.

"We let more than their ship get away." Bulkhead put in grimly. He turned slightly, pointing to where the two Eradicons had been, holding June and Raf prisoners. "They took June and Raf."


End file.
